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Catch 22 Suffering Essay

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How do writers present the physical and emotional suffering of war in Catch-22 and a selection of poetry?
In any war, the side which causes the opposition to surrender is hailed the winner. But what specifically causes a side to surrender? Suffering. War is a state of conflict which is built around the concepts of psychological and physical suffering. It is safe to say that war is the epitome of suffering. The side which inflicts enough suffering to eventually lead their opponents into a state of detriment is the victor.
In most pieces of war literature, it is apparent that the physical and psychological suffering of the characters is presented clearly, being able to produce a vivid image in the readers’ heads based on the ambience of the …show more content…

Hence, to meet the second condition, you have to meet the first condition, even if it is greater than the second one. Therefore in the case of the story, the usage of Catch-22 emphasised the generals’ abuse of power in such an oppressive manner, that it was a form of mental torture for the crew members, enough to lead most of them astray. Although this method was used to limit the amount of deaths on the battlefield, it frankly did the opposite, as it ensured that nobody could leave without dying. Yossarian’s goal in the novel is either to “live forever or die in the attempt” which implies that either he has gone crazy (it is impossible to live forever) or he believes that death is inevitable, and looming in all of his attempts to not die. This could also indicate that he is fixated on escaping the air force by either completing the missions (which are impossible to do due to Catch-22) or by escaping (which again seems impossible in the circumstances of war that they’re in). This shows that Yossarian may be creating a delusion in his head about escaping, and that delusion is the driving force behind the will to leave by carrying out a few

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